...except no one would want to watch that title because it sounds so depressing.
The acting is incredible and deserving of every awards nomination out there. The performances are nuanced, truthful, and deeply honest about the humanity of the characters. The writing does a great job of making the viewer sympathize with both the wife and the husband; each is portrayed by turns as both the villain and the victim, so ultimately both are merely human. The ending, while to me unsatisfying overall, did leave a glimmer of hope that the divorced characters will somehow learn to be friends and make this awkward, fractured-family thing work.
However, be warned the whole movie is VERY depressing! I was disappointed that neither character grows or changes from their journey in any significant way. They both end the film just as self-centered and self-serving as they were at the beginning. This is not really a "marriage story". A marriage story would have its characters learn some things about commitment and compromise and self-sacrifice for the love of their family. They might learn how to actually work through their issues. But the title is misleading: this is really a divorce story, albeit an honestly-written, exquisitely-acted one, but ultimately a sad, shallow view of marriage.
Best Acting? Absolutely. But Best Picture?? No way.
The acting is incredible and deserving of every awards nomination out there. The performances are nuanced, truthful, and deeply honest about the humanity of the characters. The writing does a great job of making the viewer sympathize with both the wife and the husband; each is portrayed by turns as both the villain and the victim, so ultimately both are merely human. The ending, while to me unsatisfying overall, did leave a glimmer of hope that the divorced characters will somehow learn to be friends and make this awkward, fractured-family thing work.
However, be warned the whole movie is VERY depressing! I was disappointed that neither character grows or changes from their journey in any significant way. They both end the film just as self-centered and self-serving as they were at the beginning. This is not really a "marriage story". A marriage story would have its characters learn some things about commitment and compromise and self-sacrifice for the love of their family. They might learn how to actually work through their issues. But the title is misleading: this is really a divorce story, albeit an honestly-written, exquisitely-acted one, but ultimately a sad, shallow view of marriage.
Best Acting? Absolutely. But Best Picture?? No way.